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Tomorrow’s conservationists and community leaders will help guide the future of the Earth’s sustainability as part of a global conference hosted by Curtin Singapore and the Science Centre Singapore this week.

High school students from Australia, Mauritius, India and Singapore will consider how to apply the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their regions at the ‘It’s our Future Earth’ Conference, held from December 4 to 6 as part of the Young Persons’ Plan for the Planet (YPPP) Program.

The YPPP Program was initially developed at the Australian National University (ANU) with the support of Questacon (Australia’s National Science and Technology Centre) to engage, connect and empower young people to deliver the SDGs. Operating for more than three years, the YPPP Program has continued to expand geographically, as well as now including Curtin University as a partner.

Curtin Singapore Pro Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Linley Lord said the University was proud to be co-hosting the 2019 conference.

“This international conference presents an exciting opportunity to hear how the next generation believes we should be tackling some of the world’s greatest challenges,” Professor Lord said.

“I look forward to welcoming the delegates to Singapore and I’m delighted they will be introduced to a new way of facilitating innovative thinking and collaboration around sustainability through ANU’s YPPP Program in conjunction with Curtin’s game-based learning program, Balance of the Planet”.

Professor David Gibson, Director of Learning Futures at Curtin and the UNESCO Chair, will be running a workshop on how to use Balance of the Planet, an online tool aimed at developing creativity, leadership and problem-solving skills.

“Following the launch of Balance of the Planet at last year’s YPPP Program Conference at Curtin Mauritius, I’m excited to take the program to a whole new group of high school students who are seeking to develop their knowledge and skills in a fun and interactive way while teaching key STEM, management and global competency skills to help address some pressing global issues,” Professor Gibson said.

“By making use of this innovative learning program, the students will be tasked with creating a solution for a UN Sustainable Development Goal of their choice, ranging from gender equality to climate change.”

The Director of the YPPP Program, Ian Chambers from ANU, emphasised the importance of giving young people a real voice in designing and delivering a sustainable future.

“This was captured well by one student from the program, who said: ‘I was worried about the future, but I didn’t have a voice. Now I have a voice’,” Mr Chambers said.

Balance of the Planet was created using Curtin’s unique Challenge learning platform, developed by the University’s Learning Futures team, and utilises Cisco’s WebEx Teams for global collaboration.

The three-day ‘It’s our Future Earth 3.0’ Conference for the Young Persons’ Plan for the Planet Program will be co-hosted by Curtin Singapore with Science Centre Singapore and Terra Village.

Cross-cultural connections and a mix of competition and collaboration were highlights of the first international conference in 2018 where over 120 delegates from Mauritius and Australia had the opportunity to deep dive and participate in this very challenging and rewarding conference, to create the exciting foundation for the now international Young Persons’ Plan for the Planet program.

Spread the word that YPPP could be coming to a high school near you, (especially if you lay the groundwork). So where should we have our next conference? Have a conversation in your school and send us your suggestions for high schools, countries & possible future venues.

2019 Conference Tickets HERE – Day 2 is a free open day for Singapore students and teachers. View the program here. Contact the 2019 conference team at [email protected] to register.

Mauritius Young Persons’ Plan for the Planet YOUTUBE

Young Persons’ Plan for the Planet program PODCAST

Podcast from ANU Crawford School of Public Policy: Grab a cuppa and listen to the process, feedback and discussion about the Young Persons’ Plan for the Planet program. Hear how it is empowering young people to take the world’s blueprint for development into their own hands and learn how this very successful pilot year in Australia led to the international pilot in Mauritius in 2018 and in Singapore in 2019. Youth Policy at the leading edge…

Young Australians’ Mauritians and Singaporeans Plans for the Planet – will India be next?

Each of these national and regional plans is the result of input from hundreds of high school students.

Each plan is designed to be much further developed, to grow and change to be fully relevant to the region, state and country of origin. It’s also a discussion starter that everyone can respond to and contribute towards. And all this while giving focus, voice and empowerment to youth to implement and deliver all the 17 UN SDGs. This is a feat never attempted before and no other group we have seen addresses all the 17 goals, logically reviews and prioritises what IS being done and what NEEDS to be done in each of the EcoZones in each participating country.

Throughout 2019, the Australian and Mauritian YPPP alumni have been in the process of mentoring new students in Singapore and now in India and Kenya, who are just completing or starting their first-ever plans. This is an ongoing process; of inspiration, review, discovery, learning, redesign and planning; to reach every part of the world – all through students thinking both locally and globally.

And you’re helping too. So, please keep all this in mind while you have a good read …

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The Young Australians' Plan for the Planet Program has a range of national and international program supporters and advisors including Questacon, Inspiring Australia, Foundation for Young Australians, PWC, ANU, UNSW, UTS and UNIC (Australia). Additional corporate, government and community support will be used to expand the program within Australia and globally. If you would like to know more about how you can support the Young Australians' Plan for the Planet Program, feel free to contact us